May 2013

At Rdio, we’re all about helping you find new music. From Heavy Rotation to label pages, music discovery is always at the forefront of our design. We’re introducing new features to personalise your music exploration and give you more control over the music you’re listening to, as you’re listening to it. Today, we’ll walk you through the first of these updates that you may have already noticed in our web and desktop apps.

WHAT YOU’LL FIND

Welcome to Rdio — New listeners will immediately be greeted by fellow Rdio friends (based on connected Twitter and Facebook accounts), awesome influencers, and the tunes they love when they first sign up. After all, music should be social.

AutoPlay — Never again wonder, “What should I listen to next?” AutoPlay is a personalized station that plays more music similar to the last song you listened to.

Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down — We’re debuting one of our most-requested features. When playing an artist station, song station, or AutoPlay, just roll over the tracklist to vote on current and upcoming songs. Each time you click, Rdio learns more about your tastes, curating more of the music you love.

Start Station — Can’t get enough of what’s currently playing? Now you can start a new station based on the song you’re listening to by hitting the Start Station button on the album art.

New Player — We’ve integrated the album artwork from the currently playing song for a beautiful and visually-evolving listening experience. Access the full view by clicking the player button on the bottom right. Here you’ll be able to see what’s now playing and the tracklist of upcoming music.

Hailing from North Carolina, Mount Moriah is the classic American folk and rock side project of Jenks Miller (from heavy psych/metal act Horseback), Heather McEntire (from post punk group Bellafea), and Casey Toll (who joined the duo in 2010). The trio’s new Rdio Session showcases the songs “Bright Light,” “Eureka Springs,” “I Built a Town,” and “Miracle Temple Holiness,” all taken from the latest album Miracle Temple.

This Rdio Session with Mount Moriah is the first filmed in partnership with Yours Truly during SXSW — watch the video of their performance above and hit play below to listen to the exclusive set.

Rdio Sessions is an ongoing series of unique, recorded performances with hand-picked artists on the rise. The SXSW edition of Rdio Sessions was recorded at The Driskill during SXSW by the engineers from Sound Stage.

We’re thrilled to introduce updates to both iOS and Android apps, bringing a unified Rdio experience regardless of platform. Among various UI improvements, you’ll find the following new features:

Find People — We believe music should be social which is why following other listeners is now easier on our mobile apps. Tap Find People, a new addition to the side navigation, to see a curated list of recommended friends and their music taste (based on your connected Twitter and Facebook) alongside hand-picked artists and influencers like Nova FM and The Presets.

Label Pages — Just like on our web and desktop apps, you can now search for a record label and find its top albums and artists.

Updated Side Navigation — The side navigation features a new blurred background and a cleaner interface, making it easier to access your profile, sort through playlists, and more.

We’ve banded together with Shazam, the music identification tool, to make discovering your new favourite song and artist easier than ever, no matter where you are.

Now anyone with the Shazam app for iOS or Android can listen to entire songs after tagging them by clicking the “Listen Free on Rdio” link. Seamlessly flow from identifying a never-before-heard track to playing it on Rdio, sharing it with friends, or finding more music by that artist within Shazam.

Rdio Unlimited subscribers can access the full experience in the app immediately. Users new to Rdio can try the mobile app free for 14 days to take advantage of the feature.

Originally launched last fall in the U.S., the integration is now available in Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and the United Kingdom.

Everyone from Ozzy to Kanye has expressed appreciation for their mother through music, and Dear Mama - A Musical Tribute explores a wide range of love. The playlist includes songs of acknowledgement and adoration for the near and dear mamas by such diverse voices as 2Pac, Dolly Parton, and Taylor Swift. Is your mum more into Danzig or Justin Bieber? Play her this set and let the lyrics speak for themselves.

A broken record never evolves — it just keeps playing a sound over and over again. But UK electropop darling Little Boots’ anthem “Broken Record,” taken from the new album Nocturnes, has a fresh lease on the dancefloor with the Chupacabras & JDH Remix.

Are you ready to D.A.N.C.E.? French electronic music duo Justice is back! Since their debut in 2007, members Gaspar Augé and Xavier de Rosnay have released both studio and live albums. Their latest, Access All Arenas, returns to the concert stage and captures a performance recorded during the last world tour at Les Arènes de Nimes in France.

The new album hasn’t officially been released yet, but we’ve got it for you to enjoy right now.

New York’s 16-year-old independent label AUM Fidelity was inspired by the do-it-yourself spirit of punk record labels that nurtured and developed original acts through music released without major label assistance. That work ethic as well as the passion to encourage true individuality has been channeled into a different side of the music spectrum to highlight the jazz and avant-garde soul worlds.

Rdio is now home to AUM’s catalog online, and we encourage you to begin exploring it through the work of such label notables as improvisational rock band Shrimp Boat, alto saxophonist Darius Jones, pianist Matthew Shipp, the late saxophonist David S. Ware, and free jazz double bassist William Parker. The term “aum” represents the soundless sound of the harmonious universe, but we think you’ll find that AUM Fidelity represents a wide range of musical ideas.

Choose the music you want to play and listen as much as you want — from the web or your phone, even when you’re offline. Find new music by starting a station or following what your friends are listening to.